A Night to Remember
by Awendela
Summary: My version of what happens after the "Housekeeping" episode. Tony and Ziva go out for drinks after her call with Ray, what they don't expect is that the events of the night will change their lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the amazing characters of NCIS**

**So this is my first attempt at a tiva fic even though I have been a fan forever, so reviews are greatly appreciated! This is my version of what happened after the end of the "Housekeeping" episode. **

**~A**

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Ziva looked back at Tony from across the room. She could barely hear what Ray was saying through the phone; something about being back in D.C. soon. At the moment Ziva couldn't really care. Tony DiNozzo was the only thing on her mind.

She was completely stunned by Tony's actions. Why did he suddenly start to act like he was in to her? Especially since E.J. was back in town. Yes, they had always had each other's backs but now it seemed as if he wanted much more. Of course she wanted more as well, she had wanted more for quite some time, but things had changed. She was in a relationship with Ray now; sure he was away for more time he was with her but when he returned he always tried so hard to make it up.

She mumbled some form of goodbye to Ray and clicked off the phone. She was not completely sure that the conversation had truly been over. Tony was staring intently at her from across the room. She slowly walked back to her previous place behind her desk; this spot happened to be practically between Tony's legs.

"Ray?" Tony asked even though he already knew the answer.

"He will be back in D.C. sometime next week. He wants to have a talk." Ziva said absently.

Tony merely nodded. This was not the ideal situation he had been hoping for, but he knew he was resourceful; he would just have to make the best of the night. He suddenly stood up and now there was no more than three inches separating Ziva from him; he was sure that they could both feel the electricity that was flowing between them.

"So," he said. "You still up for those drinks? I was thinking we would hit up O'Doules, you know, that little bar a couple of blocks from my place."

Ziva smiled. She couldn't help but become excited about tonight. O'Doules had become one of her favorites and only Tony knew that. "Yes." She said grinning.

Tony smiled back. "Great! I'll pick you up around seven? That way we won't have to worry about your car in the morning."

"Ok." Ziva said as she gathered the last of her belongings and they both headed for the elevator.

Ziva could not decide what to wear; which seemed extremely foolish. It was just drinks with Tony, her partner. That's what they should be…partners and that's all they were going to ever be. That is why Gibbs had Rule #12.

Oh, who was she trying to kid. She couldn't be more excited. She was never this excited about going out for drinks with Ray. What made Tony so much more special? Ziva had no idea. She really wished could figure out though.

After going through more than half of her closet she finally decided on a simple black cocktail dress with a dark red stripe down the side. It was simple but had a sexy side as well. She knew Tony would love it. She grabbed a pair of black heels and headed out of her bedroom. She glanced at the clock in her kitchen. It was 6:45; Tony would be here soon.

Tony stared at his reflection in his hallway mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was Anthony DiNozzo, he had to look perfect. Tony frowned at his appearance. He then licked his fingers and ran them through his hair; now he was satisfied with how he looked. It seemed crazy to care about how he looked around Ziva. They had literally seen each other after they had been through hell. But he would not be himself if he did not dress to impress. He took out his cell phone and stared at the numbers displayed on the screen. He only had a few minutes before he had to leave for Ziva's or he would risk being late and he most certainly did not want to be late.

Traffic was insance. It took him at least double the normal time to get to Ziva's. Thankfully he had left early so he found himself knocking on her door just as the clock struck seven. She opened the dorr a fraction of a second later.

"Hi." She greeted him with a sile.

"Hi." He said. "Ready to go?"

"Yes." Ziva said as she stepped out of her apartment and shut the door behind her.

Tony let out a whistle when he fully saw Ziva's outfit. Apparently she dressed to impress him as well.

"You like?" she asked as they started down the stairs.

"Very much." He replied.

After battling the insane traffic once again the pair found themselves at the bar. They sat at a corner table instead of their usual spots at the bar. Tonight seemed like a night for some privacy.

Ziva stared off into the crowd of people. She and Tony had filled the time with small talk but she knew that they both wanted to talk about something else more personal. Ziva's eyes fell upon a man who was standing in a far, dark corner of the bar. The smoky air and bright neon lights made it hard to see his face; but she had caught him staring at her constantly throughout the night,

Tony noticed that Ziva was staring into the distance at a man that he could not clearly see. "Do you know him?" he asked.

Ziva shook her head. "I have never met him before."

Tony made a mental not of this but he didn't want to pursue it further. "So what day is Ray going to be back?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Apparently sometime during the middle of next week." Ziva said offhand. She could easily see that he was trying to change the subject; well two could play that game. "How was E.J?"

Tony was completely stunned. Did Ziva really think that just because E.J. was back that he would be right back in bed with her? "I don't know. She slept on the bed. I slept on the couch. There really was no interaction."

"But her words obviously affected you." Ziva said slowly, taking a sip from her beer.

"Why do you say that?" Tony asked, trying to hide his shock.

"Well as soon as you two got back you seemed changed." Ziva said.

"Was it a good change or a bad change?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"A good one." Ziva replied quickly.

Tony chuckled. "Well I'm glad and I guess we did talk. She said some things that made me see something in a while new light." He said as he gulped down the last of his beer and ordered a new one. It felt like Ziva was interrogating him.

Ziva smirked when Tony ordered his next beer. "And what was this something?"

"You." He answered seriously.

Ziva was shocked. "Me?" She asked as her voice faltered.

"Yup." He answered as he took another swig. He could feel himself starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. He also knew that Ziva must be feeling it as well since she had matched him beer for beer so far.

"Oh." She responded. "What kind of new light do you see me in?"

"This one." He said as he leaned across the small table and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

Ziva leaned back. That was so wrong; but it felt so right. 'It must be the alcohol.' She thought. What else could it be? She was committed to Ray, Tony knew this. So why had he just kissed her?

"I'm sorry." Tony started to say.

"Don't be. We're both drunk Tony." Ziva said.

"I'm not that drunk." Tony instantly replied. "I wanted to do that. I've wanted to for a long time Ziva."

Ziva shook her head. "Tony just stop. We're drunk. You don't mean at all what you are saying."

"No Ziva, I know what I'm saying and I mean it. I also know that I'm not the only one who has these feelings." Tony said, his voice was constantly rising in volume.

"You are Tony, I am with Ray. If I didn't like him I wouldn't be with him." Ziva defended.

"You like him yes, but you do not love him." Tony said quietly as he watched her reaction.

Ziva couldn't believe what she was hearing. E.J. just waltzes back into town, tells Tony that he and Ziva share some feelings, and then he decideds to act on them.

"You're wrong." She said as she grabbed her jacket. She could not bear to let the Tony's words affect her, no matter how much truth they held. She was drunk. She would think about this more in the morning.

Tony dropped his head. "Come on. Let's starting walking back. I'll drive you home in the morning."

Ziva nodded as they headed towards the door. She could not speak. Tony's words had affected her. She knew deep down that he was right. She knew that at the moment she did not completely love Ray but that could change.

After walking for a couple of minutes in silence Ziva suddenly stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"I forgot my purse. Just keep walking I'll meet you at your place." She said over her shoulder.

Tony couldn't believe her! Was she trying to drive him crazy. He would wait right where he was for her.

It wasn't very long before Ziva heard footsteps coming up behind her. Tony would just not listen! She kept walking, if he wanted to come with her he would just have to keep up with her. She had to get back before the bar closed which would be any minute now. She heard the footsteps getting closer but still did not turn around. In her drunken state she did not consider it to be anyone but Tony. Just then a hand landed on her shoulder. She whirled around a bit slower than usual but still quick enough. She was about to give Tony a piece of her mind but instead she was met with a cloth over her mouth. She tried to fight the person off but her reactions were slow and soon she was overcome by the chemical. The last thing she was before her world went black was a pair of piercing green eyes staring at her from a slit in a black ski mask.

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**So I hope you enjoyed this, reviews are always greatly appreciated.**

**~A**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews! Since everyone seemed to really enjoy the first chapter I worked really hard to get the second one posted as soon as possible. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

**~A**

****

Tony sat on the old rusty bench for what seemed like forever. A million different thoughts were running through his head. How could he have kissed Ziva? Sure, he had thought about it many times but he never thought that he would actually act on it. Hell, she was with Ray and it's not like she ever said that she had the same feelings for him.

He also wondered about what he was trying to accomplish when he told Ziva that he had feelings for her. Did he expect her to just say she had feelings for him to and fall into his arms just like in a romantic chic-flic? To be honest he had thought about that as a possibility but unfortunately things did not happen like that in real life.

Tony looked down at his cell phone. It read 2:25. Ziva had been gone for almost half an hour. That did not make sense at all. They had only been walking for about ten minutes when she realized she had forgotten her purse. At the very least she would be walking back now, but there was no sign of her. Perhaps she had gotten a cab; she had told him to meet back at his place. But wouldn't Ziva call if she got to his place and he wasn't there?

Tony set off at a brisk walk towards the bar. He had finally fought off the last remnants for the alcoholic haze he had been under. Something wasn't right here. He had a gut feeling that Ziva was in trouble. It took Tony only four minutes to make it back to the bar. It was no surprise for him to find it closes. He pounded on the door and shouted for someone to open up. Much to his surprise a grisly old bartender opened the door.

"Can't you read that the sign says closed?" He barked.

Tony was in no mood. "Yeah I read it. I was in here no longer than an hour ago, with a very attractive Israeli woman with a black and red dress. She forgot her purse here and was supposed to come back for it. You seen her?"

The bartender looked confused. There had been so many people coming in and out of the bar and so many people left things behind. Just then his eyes lit up.

"Hang on a second." He mumbled and lumbered back into the darkened bar.

Tony let out an irritated sigh. If Ziva was in trouble he did not have time to be waiting on an old tired bartender that was doing who knows what.

That very bartender appeared a few minutes later clutching something in his hands. It wasn't until the old man stepped into the street the Tony could make out what he was holding; it was Ziva's purse.

"I think this belongs to your lady friend." He man said handing the purse over to Tony. "However, I have not seen her since the two of you left. Sorry." He said as he shut the door.

Tony's heart sank. This was really Ziva's purse. She had never made it back to the bar. What had stopped her? Tony had once said that he would never go through a Women's purse but this was an exception. He just hoped Ziva would forgive him.

What he found inside didn't surprise him. There was a red wallet with all of her credit cards, cash and ID's. He also found some other girly things but one very important thing was missing; her cellphone. She must've kept it on her throughout the night. Tony knew that if she was in trouble the last thing he should do is call her. That would only alert others to the fact that Ziva had her phone on her. What he needed to do was re-trace his steps and find any clues that could tell him what had happened to Ziva.

So he did just that and it didn't take Tony long to find out what he was looking for. To the untrained eye a white cloth on the sidewalk next to a couple of dark colored drops would probably just been seen as trash but Tony was a special agent and he had seen this scene way to many times. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the cloth was most likely soaked in some debilitating chemical and that those dark colored drops, on closer inspection, were blood.

He snapped a quick picture on his phone and then followed the drops into the alley. Since it was the middle of the night it was an extremely difficult task to distinguish the blood droplets from the rest of the filth on the street. Tony did his best to take pictures of whatever he though was a blood droplet and he followed the path to a dumpster. If it was possible his heart sank again. Taking a deep break he pushed open the lid and it hit the brick wall behind with a thud. There was no body or no mass amounts of blood but he did spot an all too familiar shoe. He had been admiring it all night; it was Ziva's left pump. He knew this because he had noticed that the red and black of the shoe matched perfectly with her dress.

Tony pulled out his phone and dialed one of the first numbers he saw. He knew this person would be very unhappy with him but this had now become a crime scene and Ziva was missing.

"Gibbs." The voice mumbled on the other line.

Tony sighed. "Boss we have a problem."

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**So I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Like always let me know what you think! What you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, whatever!**

**~A**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! So to everyone reading this I'm sorry it took like forever to get this chapter posted. My classes started again which is not cool. But I'm making a goal to write a little bit each night so that I can post a new chapter about every few days.**

**Enjoy!**

**~A**

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Ziva's eyes slowly flickered open. She was just starting to regain consciousness and her vision was still really fizzy. She could, however, make out a few general facts. She was currently tied to an old wooden chair with what she assumed was a hemp rope. The chair was slightly off balance; the left front leg was just a little shorter than the rest. The single light bulb hanging from the ceiling cast the room in a flickering haze. There were no windows and with the dim light she had not yet been able to locate a door.

This was both a goof and a bad thing. It meant that whoever had captured her had not yet returned. The downside was that she still had no way of escaping this prison cell. She was trapped.

Ziva wondered what Tony was doing. He was probably running around like a maniac trying to find her. She just hoped he didn't get himself into trouble. She thought back to when they had been at the bar. She hadn't even attempted to listen to him when he was telling her that he had feelings for her.

But she didn't need to listen. Tony knew very well that she was with Ray. Now, to be honest, she was not extremely happy being in a relationship with Ray. He was constantly gone for weeks or even months. When he came back it always seemed like the same old routine. First, he would apologize profusely. Next, he would take her out to the finest restaurant he could think of and then finally they would make up. It was like living in a dream when he was back but it was always short-lived and the dream was followed by dread. But how many people were happy with their relationships 100% of the time?

Ziva knew the real reason she had not acknowledged Tony's feelings. It was because deep down she felt those same exact feelings for him, but admitting those feelings could potentially destroy the world she had so carefully built.

A sudden sound brought Ziva out of her thoughts. She could finally see clearly now. A thin line of light had appeared to her right; it was the door. Well she had found her out way out. All that was stopping her now was the tall figure that had appeared. The figure started to walk towards her and Ziva felt a shiver run through her body. This was not good.

"Hello Ms. David. It's nice to see you again."

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Tony had to look away from the scene in front of him. Every possible horrible thought about what Ziva was going through was running around inside his head. He had lost count of the times Gibbs had glared at him. No one had outwardly said that it was his fault but he knew it was. He had been the one to ask her out for drinks. He should have been a gentleman and went back to get her purse. He should have been there to protect her. He was making himself crazy! It didn't matter what he hadn't done all that mattered now was finding Ziva.

"DiNozzo, are you listening?" Gibbs barked.

"Yeah boss, I'm just surveying the surrounding area for any other clues."

Within a few seconds Gibbs was standing right next to him. "It looks more like daydreaming. I'm sure if you were the one missing Ziva wouldn't be daydreaming." He said harshly.

Gibbs felt bad. He knew that DiNozzo was beating himself up over this but he did not need this senior field agent being self-loathing on a case like this. He needed DiNozzo to focus and if pissing him off got him to pay attention then that's what he was going to have to do.

"Meet me in interrogation in half an hour. We're gonna have a chat." Gibbs said walking away. This was going to be a long couple of days.

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**So I know this chapter is a little short but I promise that the next one will be much longer. **

**As always reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**~A**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! So here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

**~A**

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Tony hated himself at the current moment. He was sitting across the interrogation table from Gibbs; who did not look all that happy.

"I've already gone over it with you three times Gibbs. What more do you want? Tony sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"I don't know DiNozzo, something useful." Gibbs replied.

"Well once again we went out for drinks at the bar. We sat there for quite a while then we started talk about stuff and that if when I messed up and then we left." Tony explained.

"How did you mess up DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

Tony shifted uncomfortably. "I'd rather not discuss that with you, boss; It kind of goes against one of your rules."

Gibbs ran his hand over his face. "Can you remember anything unusual?"

Tony sat back, thinking for a minute. He had been quite drunk that night so remembering distinct details was becoming increasingly difficult. "Well there was this one guy who Ziva seemed to think was watching her throughout the night.""

Gibbs sat up a little straighter. "Do you remember anything about this guy?"

Tony sighed. "Not really. It was extremely dark and smoky insides but from what I could see he was about average everything. I think he was blonde, wearing what I think was a plaid shirt with jeans. I know it isn't much but like I said it was dark."

Gibbs stood up and opened the door. "Let's hope Abby got more than you off of the security camera."

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Ziva knew she recognized that voice, she just couldn't place it to its owner. This was something she used to be able to do within minutes, why was she suddenly forgetting all of her training?

Deep down she know the answer she just didn't want to admit it; it was Tony. She was almost always thinking about him and he was clouding her judgments. She did not need a distraction right now. She needed be able to think clearly in order to find her escape.

Over the time she had been in the room her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. She could easily locate the door now but she still had no way to reach it. Whoever had tied her to the chair made sure that there was no way she could get free. She had tired moving the chair closer to the door but she had only accomplished to move it a few inches. She did find out two very important things however; one was that the chair was actually very heavy, something she could use in the future, and two that she still had her cellphone on her. The phone was inside the small pocket in her dress. She was amazed that it hadn't fallen out. If only she could get one of her hands free of retrieve it she could call for help.

For some reason the room she was being held in seemed eerily familiar; like she had seen it before on a movie with Tony or in some old case file. She did not know if this was just her mind playing tricks or a fact. If this was truly a place she had seen before that gave her a slight advantage over whoever had taken her.

The person who was apparently in charge of her had come and gone several times; never speaking to her except for that very first time. Ziva found this to be odd. Usually when someone was captured the captor was always around; never leaving the person out of their sight.

Ziva could only hope that Tony had gotten everyone to help find her. She didn't need to hope though, she knew it would be the very first thing he did. He loved her; she knew that it was more than just feelings. Tony would never have kissed her if it truly was just feelings. She had been thinking about her feelings for him while she had been here. Did she have feelings for him? Obviously the answer was yes. But did she love him? Loving someone was complicated. She cared deeply for Tony and would do anything for him but she could say the same for Gibbs, Abby or even McGee. So what made Tony stand out above everyone else? She didn't want to admit the answer but it was love. She loved Anthony DiNozzo.

The sound of the door cracking open brought an intense light into the room; Ziva had to close her eyes.

"Well Ms. David. I'm sure you have had a long time to think about what you did wrong?" The person said. The voice sounded weird; almost like it was a woman attempting to deepen her voice.

"Since I have done nothing wrong obviously I have not been thinking about it." Ziva replied.

The voice laughed. "Oh, but you have done something very wrong."

"You are the person I have wronged, yes?" Ziva said.

"No not me; a very close friend of mine. You see, my friend does not like being made to look like a fool, and this is exactly what you have done. So you must be punished. Unfortunately they could not make it so it is up to me to take care of you. Fortunately, howver, I like to watch people suffer." The voice said as a hand came up and smacked Ziva across the face. "So you will live just a little bit longer."

With that the person walked away and left Ziva alone again. She could taste blood in her mouth. It was like Somalia all over again. This time however she had a slight advatange. She had been listening very carefully to the persons voice and had actually been about to figure out who the person was. It was Sophia Martín. They had met once before. She was a friend of Ray Cruz.

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**So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope to have the next one up by the end of the weekend with any luck.**

**As always reviews are greatly appreciated! **

**Any suggestions on how you want to see this story continue you can just PM me!**

**~A**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! So I know it has been like literally forever since I last updated this story but I was just going through a lot so my writing unfortunately had to take a back seat to all the other drama, but now I am back for hopefully the foreseeable future and should be posting a new chapter every couple of days.**

**~ A**

Abby had in fact found more than DiNozzo had, but it still wasn't much. She had been able to find prints and DNA that did not belong to Ziva on the cloth, but so far she had not made any definite matches. Gibbs of course was not very happy with this and just told her to work faster. This was Ziva. Gibbs' focus on Abby and her work was soon broken by McGee yelling that he had been able to get a trace on Ziva's cell phone. He was amazed that the battery had been able to last this long, maybe luck was finally on their side for once.

"Sorry it took so long Boss," McGee said as everyone gathered around his computer, "but the area they're keeping her in is horrible for service, so even if she tried to call for help the call would never have went through."

Gibbs and DiNozzo had already grabbed their gear by the time McGee had finished talking. Who knows what condtion Ziva was in or if she had tried to call for help. Tony couldn't even imagine a situation like that. What if Ziva had gotten free but hadn't been able to call for help? What if she had gotten free but was hurt and was alone now? What if? What if? All these questions running through his head were making him physically ill. He only hoped that they would make it in time.

Ziva was awaken by a sharp kick to the wooden chair she was tied to; the kick knocked the chair to the ground. In that instant Ziva knew her arm had broken under her weight and that of the chair.

"Time to wake up _kalba_….seems your friends have somehow been able to track you here. I'm thinking that it's because of this." Sophia said as she reached into Ziva's dress and pulled out her phone. "_Harah_!" Sophia said as she slammed the phone into the ground.

Sophia then forcefully yanked Ziva and the chair back up. She made quick work of the rope with the help of an 8 inch knife. In that second two large men, dressed in all black, with matching ski masks came in; one was carrying a very similar cloth to the one Ziva had last seen the night they had kidnapped her.

Ziva had never been more anxious; since she did not get frightened anxious was the next best emotion to describe what she was feeling. There was no way that she would be able to fight off all three of them with a broken arm, but that is exactly what she tried to do but once again succumb to the strange chemical on the cloth.

Tony felt his heart freeze in his chest as he and Gibbs stormed the room where McGee had last traced Ziva's cellphone. Unfortunately, McGee had lost the signal over twenty minutes ago. Tony would swear that he had never seen Gibbs drive so fast before; it was almost as bad as riding with Ziva.

The room was empty. A wooden chair knocked to the ground, a cut hemp rope, another discarded cloth. Tony knew that they would find Ziva's DNA all over them je just hoped that her kidnapper had left some as well. He wanted to laugh at himself for that comment. Whoever had taken Ziva knew what they were doing. They would never leave any DNA.

Tony barely heard Gibbs curse as he found something next to the chair; Tony was in his own world. An NCIS agent was missing and would soon be presumed gone and it was all because of him. Tony looked down at the wooden chair; it was so weather beaten that it could have been from the 1940's; however something peculiar caught his eye.

On one of the legs of the chair, just below the part where it joined the main seat, was a weird looking engraving. To the untrained eye it looked as it if was just another stress fracture to the old wood, but as Tony examined it closer he saw a name. He let out an uncontrollable gasp. Ziva hadn't been able to free herself but at least she gave them a huge clue. Etched into the wood, by what Tony could only assume were Ziva's finger nails, was a name. _Sophia Martín_.

**So as you guys all know by now reviews are greatly, GREATLY, appreciated. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. **

**~A**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter that I promised you guys! I told you I could try to update every couple of days but I was in a really good writing mood so I just kept going. I did try to make this chapter a little bit longer than the last so please let me know what you guys think.**

**~A**

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! I found her!" Abby's unusually loud voice rang through the now empty squad room. They were the only team left around at 4A.M. Tony was asleep with his face flat on his key board. He, along with Gibbs and McGee, had been searching tirelessly for any information on the mysterious name of Sophia Martín. So far they had gotten nowhere. It was as if this Sophia was a make believe person.

It had been Tony who had first suggested that since they had not yet found any information on her maybe she wasn't in any American database. Maybe she was another Mossad office or something and that is how Ziva knew her. It was worth a honest try at least, nothing else seemed to be working. That was when Tony promptly fell asleep. He didn't even wake when his face hit the key board. Everyone was exhausted but they could not stop. If they stopped for even a minute it could mean some horrible consequence for Ziva.

So with that they had to start accessing foreign networks; which was not an easy task at such a late hour. Finally, they had come to the conclusion that Sophia was born in a small, rural village in Spain and traveled to Israel after her 19th birthday, where she married some local noble man and went underground. This was all good information but it still did not explain how Ziva knew her.

Tony was jerked awake by a smack on the back of the head by Gibbs. "Abby's got something." Gibbs grumbled; too many cups of coffee had already been consumed and there was no foreseeable end in sight.

Abby smiled, "So I know you guys haven't found much on this Sophia girl but her DNA is all over the rope and the chair….so either she's getting lazy or she wants to get caught. But anyways, I found some other DNA belonging to Miquel and Román Hernandez. They were much easier to track down. McGee helped me track them down to an apartment complex on the east side of D.C. I was thinking you might be interested in paying then a visit while we wait for more information on Sophia." Abby concluded as she once again watched all three agents grab their gear and head to the elevator.

The apartment complex could hardly be called that. There were stairs missing and numerous holes in the floor.

"Boss, are you sure this is the right place? I don't think anyone has lived here for a long time." Tony said as they carefully walked around the holes in the ground and all of the filth.

"No," Gibbs said, "This is the perfect place to stay if you want to lie low; no one will ever look here."

Tony rolled his eyes. In his opinion this was just a waste of time. Why were they looking for these two brothers when Ziva was obviously not here? They should be looking for Ziva. Every day that passed Tony kept feeling darker and darker. Every day that Ziva wasn't near him was like a nightmare. He wasn't talking about like physically being with her; since that hadn't happened yet. He meant just the fact of being near her at work, the almost constant banter that they shared, the occasional flirtatious glances they gave each other; just being around her. Someone had taken Ziva, his Ziva, and he would be damned if he let someone hurt her.

"Hey Boss you need to come check this out!" McGee yelled from a few rooms over. When Gibbs and Tony made it to the room the scene that greeted then was one straight out of a creepy serial killer type movie, which sent Tony's mind reeling. This was personal.

Hundreds of photographs filled the walls; some black and white and some were color. The photographs seemed to go in chronological order dating at least three or four years back. Most of the photographs were connected together with red strings. Attached to some of the red strings were various newspaper clippings; they were highlighting the bad guys they had put away. All of these things had one common denominator; Ziva.

Tony could have laughed it if was any other situation because after examining the photos for some time he realized that he was in every single picture with Ziva. He found this just a little disconcertings. Why of all people would he be in every single one of the pictures? He didn't think he spent that much time with Ziva. Was someone trying to attack him? Some of the photos were taken from just outside his apartment when they would have their weekly pizza and movie nights. A person had to have been given security access to enter the building, was it someone they knew?

Tony could feel Gibbs' stare burning into his back. Maybe McGee had been oblivious to the fact that he was in all of the photos but Gibbs would have never missed that. The only problem was that Tony had no answer for Gibbs. He had no idea why he was in all of the photos. This was not good.

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**As always REVIEW if you like it! I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by the beginning of next week. **

**~A**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter; I'm loving all the reviews so kept them coming! **

**~A**

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When Ziva finally woke up from the second encounter with the chemical soaked cloth she found herself in what appeared to be a nicely furnished hotel room. She was once again tie to a chair. At least this time the window curtains were drawn open and she could see everything. Sophia was sitting on the window, staring down at the street. Ziva could not yet see the two guards so she assumed that they were not there.

"Why are you doing this?" Ziva asked out loud. When she did not get an immediate response, she started to ask again.

"Don't act like you don't know." Sophia snapped.

Ziva chuckled. "What if I really do not know?"

"Then that is not my problem, anyways it will all come to light soon." Sophia said as she gazed out the window.

"What do you mean by that?" Ziva asked. She hated to make small talk with Sophia of all people, but Ziva knew that if she kept Sophia talking then maybe, just maybe, she would slip up and reveal something about this mysterious plan.

"You will see." Sophia said as a loud buzz filled the room. In a flash instant Sophia had moved from the window and retrieved her phone. "It's about time." Sophia said curtly as she walked into the other room and slammed the door shut, leaving Ziva alone.

Ziva tried moving the chair closer to the door but couldn't achieve that without the ear of making an extremely loud noise. Thankfully, the conversation that Sophia was having wasn't going her way and her voice was raising an octave every minute.

"I had to leave, we got a tip that they were coming to find her…yes, he's leading them…maybe you shouldn't have pissed him off…I don't know Ray! Just get here." Sophia said.

Ziva could hardly breathe; she must have heard that wrong. She was listening through a wall after all. There was no way that Ray, the Ray she was involved with, could be involved in all of this; that was impossible. And who was leading whom? They couldn't be talking about Tony and the rest of the team could they? That was a pretty good possibility however, because Ziva knew that Tony would hunt to the ends of the earth to bring her back.

"Get up." Sophia ordered; dragging her up by the arm. "We're moving again."

Ziva panicked; at this rate Tony and the rest of the team would never be able to catch up with them. She looked down at her wrist and saw that she was still wearing a silver bracelet that Tony had given her for Christmas a couple years back. She never even realized that she had put it on. In an instant she tore it off and left it on the floor. Now she only hoped that they could track her here.

Gibbs and the team did manage to track Ziva and her captors to a hotel not far from the first hideout; but once again they were too late. Ziva was gone. Gibbs threw his hat off. They couldn't keep playing follow the leader. They needed to catch a break.

Tony could not believe this. They couldn't keep coming second or they would lose her. As he was looking down he noticed a flash of light. He sighed, it must have just been McGee snapping photographs and he didn't hear the flash. Tony took another step and there it was again. It definitely was not McGee. Tony took a picture of the object and when he bent down to pick it up he felt like he was going to be sick. The object was something he hadn't thought about in a couple of years. Hell, he had almost forgotten he had given it to her. It was a simple sterling silver bracelet with an intricate floral design. He had decided to give it to her one year on a whim. He couldn't even believe that she still had it. The fact that she still had it must mean that she had feelings for him.

"What do you got there DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked from across the room.

"It's one of Ziva's bracelets. She was here for sure. She must've left it behind to show us." Tony said absently; he was still admiring the bracelet.

"How are you so sure that it's Ziva's?" Gibbs said examining the bracelet.

"I gave it to her?" Tony said; now all he had to do was wait for the Gibbs backlash about rule #12. Surprisingly, there was none.

In that instant Gibbs' phone started to go off. "Let's go!". He shouted after he hung up.

"Who was that Boss?" McGee asked.

"Vance. We had surveillance on the Hernandez boy's accounts. Apparently they just bought a brand new boat."

**So I know this one was kind of short but I promise that the next one will be worth the wait; and by wait I mean like early next week. I'm moving across the country this weekend and still have so much to do.**

**As always REVIEWS are greatly appreciated.**

**~A**


	8. Chapter 8

**So here's the next chapter! I'm thinking that there will probably be only a couple more chapters in this story but depending on how all the readers feel I may make a sequel. So you guys have to let me know if that is something you would be interested in reading. **

**~A**

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Tony crouched impatiently behind a cleaning cart that was about twenty feet away from the Hernandez's boat. They had stormed the boat earlier only to find it empty. So now they were waiting patiently. For once they might have the upper hand.

Tony looked across the dock to see Gibbs crouching on another boat that was next to the Hernandez's and McGee was somewhere on the walkway that led to the dock. He would alert Gibbs and Tony of je saw any signs of Ziva or Sophia. So far they had been here almost three hours and there was still nothing. They would soon have to call it off; maybe this was just another trap that Sophia had set.

'Well speak of the devil and he shall arrive' Tony thought. Just as he was thinking about Sophia not showing up McGee gave them the signal that they were in the area. Tony felt his heart skip a beat; Ziva was here. It had honestly been forever since he had seen her, now all he had to do was get her back safely and she would be his.

In no time at all he saw Sophia leading down the dock. They were followed closely behind by the Hernandez brothers. Ziva's hands were once again tied together with the thick, hemp rope. She was still wearing the black dress she had worn out that night except now it had cuts all over and a huge rip in the side. Tony promised himself that he would buy her a new one just as soon as this was over.

After the four of them had gathered onto the ship Tony and Gibbs were about to make a move when they got another signal from McGee. Tony instantly ran back to the cart. Who the hell could McGee be signaling for? All four of them were on the ship already.

The answer he got caused him to gasp. It was Ray. How was he connected to this at all? According to Ziva he was not supposed to be back in the States until next week. When Ray walked aboard the Hernandez's ship Tony felt a sense of uncontrollable anger rise up in him. What the hell? Ziva cared about Ray! Tony knew she didn't love him but she was still with him. How could Ray turn around and do this to her? He was purposely endangering Ziva and Tony was not going to stand around and let him hurt her anymore.

Tony could barely hear Gibbs yelling at him to stop. He was running towards the ship. He was going to get Ziva back; regardless of what he had to do. If Ray tried to get in his way, well that was just icing on the cake.

Ziva hated being dragged along like a dog. She would have come with them anyway. It's not like she could fight them off with her arm being broken from that fall on the chair. At least Sophia had given her pain medicine for it. Ziva wondered if that had really been Sophia's choice of if her boss had ordered her to do it. Ziva got a sick feeling in her stomach; thinking back to that conversation she had overheard. Ray could not be involved in this. However, deep down Ziva knew that this was true.

Once they were inside the ship Ziva noticed that no expense had been spared in buying it. It was nice. The ship had obviously been stocked for a long voyage; almost like a cross Atlantic trip. Sophia forced Ziva down onto the couch. Ramón and Miguel sat next to her. At least it was better than being tied up. Sophia was pacing in circles; it was driving Ziva crazy.

"Is something wrong?" Ziva asked in an overly sweet way.

Sophia just glared at her. The boss should have been here already. She had done her part of the deal. She had transported Ziva here. Now all she wanted to do was get paid and get the hell out of here. She did not want to stick around when the explosives went off.

As if to answer her thoughts Sophia heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Within a couple of seconds Ray Cruz appeared in the hallway.

Ziva felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. This was just like a bad nightmare and eventually she would wake up; she had to. There was no way Ray could be responsible for this, so she figured the best way to find out way to act like she didn't know anything.

"Ray, what is going on here?" Ziva asked.

Ray didn't even acknowledge her; he only had eyes for Sophia. He simply handed her a white envelope. "It's all there. You can count it if you want."

Sophia smiled. "I trust you." She said as she kissed Ray on the cheek and started towards the front of the boat. There was one more surprise they had for their captive.

Ray now turned his attention to Ziva. He was wearing one of the darkest looks Ziva had ever seen. He simply stared at her. "Why did you have to embarrass me Ziva? Didn't you realize how much I loved you?" Ray asked as he stepped closer to her. Ziva did not answer; she just stared back at him.

This only seemed to infuriate Ray further. "You had to be with that Tony DiNozzo didn't you. May I ask what he has that I don't? I make like ten times as much as he does. I can give you anything you want. I have connections in almost every country so we could live wherever, not have to stay in America. I would give you the world, so why do you want him?" Ray said. This was the first time Ziva had actually seen this side of Ray; the side who seemed to care about her.

The fact was that Ziva really didn't have an answer about why she had picked Tony. He was Tony and she loved him. When had she started to love him? Even she couldn't answer that. It was before she had started being with Ray that was for sure.

Ray took Ziva's silence as an insult. "That is why I had you followed that say after work. I knew something was up when we talked, and believe it or not having you followed actually paid off. I got to see you with Tony and that is when I put this plan into motion…." Before Ray could finish somebody slammed into him. It was only after they were wrestling on the ground did Ziva see that it was Tony. Ziva barely noticed that at the same time the ship's engine was being fired it up. They were going out to sea.

**So as always please REVIEW **


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter nine! It's only about a semester later than it should have been. Sorry guys!**

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Tony and Ray rolled on the floor for what seemed like forever. Every now and then one would get enough space to land a good punch but it was never enough to break the others grip. Ziva had never felt more helpless. Her arms were still bound by the hemp rope and her arm was numb, at least it had stopped throbbing. Could she really risk injuring herself further? It was at that moment the boat was hit by a particularly large wave that caused Ziva to almost lose her balance. She then remembered they were being dragged out to sea. This had to end now.

Without even thinking Ziva threw herself at the pair of men wrestling on the floor. Her arm once again screamed out in pain, but she did her best to ignore it. She tried to throw her weight against Ray and give Tony enough room to do something, anything, but it wasn't exactly working out. She had just managed to get herself tangled between the men.

A shot rang out through the cabin and everyone, including Ray, froze. It seemed as if his guards had come to his rescue. Without more than a second's notice Ray managed to punch Tony in the head; successfully knocking him out. The guards wasted no time grabbing Tony's limp form and literally dragging is body up the stairs. Ray grabbed Ziva's broken arm and yanked her up to her feet. She couldn't help the yelp that escaped her mouth. She would truly be surprised if there wasn't permanent damage done.

"Seems your plan back fired Ziva. Tell me, how does it feel when you see your loved ones killed in front of you?" Ray sneered.

Ziva held her head high. She could not even stand to look at him.

Ray just laughed. "Well I guess you're about to find out. That is unless you want to save yourself the pain and go first." With that he dragged her up the stairs.

Ziva groaned. She didn't know if it was the pain in her arm or the reality of what was going to happen. She and Tony were about to die and it was all her fault.

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Gibbs has left McGee back on the dock and jumped into a small motorboat as soon as the larger yacht's engines had started up; it was definitely not a good sign. He followed the boat slowly; if he got to close it would alert them to his presence and all that would do is endanger his agent's lives further. Gibbs suspected they were already doing a good enough job of that themselves. With Tony and Ziva things always seemed to get worse before they got better.

Once they were about four miles out at sea the yacht suddenly stopped and dropped anchor. Gibbs quickly rigged the motorboat so it wouldn't stop until it ran out of gas and jumped into the ocean. He hoped that the crew would notice the distraction and not notice him. He needed to get his agents back.

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Ziva looked out at the ocean. To be honest it was a beautiful day; the water was a crisp blue and the sky had just a few puffy clouds. Leave it to Ray to ruin something so beautiful.

A few minutes ago Tony had woken with a throbbing headache, only to find his arms tied behind him in the same fashion as Ziva's and a gag in his mouth; so much for his heroic rescue effort. If they somehow managed to survive this Gibbs' was going to headslap him into next week, but at the moment Ziva was still alive and that was all that mattered. He was willing to die right here and now for her.

Ziva breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Tony was awake. It would make this a little easier. She noticed that Ray had been watching them the entire time; he too had been waiting for Tony to wake.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Ziva said calmly, even though she was anything but calm. She was thankful that only Tony would be able to tell how she was truly feeling.

Ray looked at her. "Why would I say anything?" He asked slightly confused.

"Well most villains, captors, kidnappers, etc. usually say something after they get everything they want. That is exactly what is happening. You have everything you want, yes?" Ziva said.

Ziva nearly flew out of his chair and Ziva immediately braced for the impact but instead Ray cupped her face lovingly with his hand. Tony was straining against the pole he was bound to. How dare Ray touch her.

"Is that honestly what you think of me Ziva? DO you see me as the bad guy? I did all of this for you Ziva. If your faithful "team" hadn't gotten involved, we would be sitting on a bench enjoying each other's company. I only ever wanted to get you away from him." Ray gestured back to Tony with a sharp nod. "But you always have to be difficult. You forced my hand. This is all your fault." He spat, turning away from her. "Now you know what must happen, Ziva. I've already told you. I gave you time to think about it, will you take the easy way out and go first but at your dear Tony's expense or will you have him go first?"

Tony was so confused at the moment, and it wasn't due to his head injury. What the hell were they talking about?

"Answer Ziva, my patience is growing thin and I have a plane to catch." Ray snapped as he moved closer to her.

Ziva looked at Tony. He instantly noticed the tears in her eyes. He swore to god that he would break the pole he was tied to if anything happened. He couldn't stand to see her like this. He knew which choice she would choose. She was a solider. Thinking about it broke his heart and nearly made his sick. He was not going to watch her die.

"Enough!" Ray yelled. He was done with this. "Your silence is your answer. I'll choose for you since you seem to have no opinion. I choose that Tony goes first."

"No!" Ziva yelled and struggled against her ropes. "I'll go first."

Ray smiled. "It's a little too late for that." He chuckled, with that he cut one set of Tony's ropes and pushed him forward. He didn't even make an attempt to run. It was better this way. He would never be able to watch Ziva die. He just hoped that someday she would forgive him.

Ray pushed Tony to the edge of the boat. Tony looked down at the water. Of all the ways he imagined himself going out, it was definitely not this. At least this was somewhat heroic, just like in hose old pirate movies he loved so much.

There was a sudden splitting sound and both Ray's and Tony's heads whirled around. Ziva has somehow managed to break the wooden arm off of the chair she was tied to. She ran at Ray and smashed into tem, nearly colliding with Tony and knocking him over. A short scuffle ensued and soon Tony found himself facing his worst nightmare, Ziva was now the one on the edge. The only thing keeping her on board was Ray's arm. He saw Ray's fingers begin to loosen their grip when a shot rang out.

Everything seemed to freeze. All heads turned to see one Leroy Jethro Gibbs standing on the port side with this gun trained on Ray Cruz. In the next moment Ray looked down to see a red stain instantly appearing on his polo shirt. The final moment was when Ray stumbled back off of the boat, taking Ziva with him.

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**Once again sorry guys that it took literally forever! Thankfully, I have nothing to do for the next month so I will be catching up on all of my stories. **

**R&R**


	10. Chapter 10

**So I have a bunch of free time between my exams so I'm trying to do my best to get this story where it should be before I leave school. Yay! So super excited! Also I wanted to send out a huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you guys!**

**~A**

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Before Gibbs could even blink Tony had jumped off the yacht after Ziva. He couldn't lose her this way. He knew he had a pretty good chance at saving her and prayed she hadn't been knocked unconscious by the fall. The water was absolutely freezing but Tony didn't even notice, he was on a mission. He saw Ziva still struggling against her ropes about ten feet below him. Leave it to his ninja to fight to her last breath. Tony quickly swam down to her and dragged her to the surface.

Ziva instantly took a breath of air and then proceeded to cough out the small amount of sea water she had swallowed. Her lungs were on fire and she had never been more afraid in her entire life, not even in Somalia. She would have never thought that Ray was capable of such a thing. She instantly started looking all around, nearly breaking out of Tony's grasp. Where was Ray?

"We didn't see him come back up." Tony explained sensing her thoughts. He was struggling just a little to swim them back to the boat. Ziva wished she could help him but any movement she made would only make it more difficult for Tony.

They made it back to the yacht and Tony handed Ziva up to Gibbs. It was only then that Ziva saw what condition Tony was in. The punch to his head had left a mark that was already a deep purple bruise, it looked as if his left eye was going to be a black eye by tomorrow, and he was bleeding from a cut on his leg; not to mention all the other various smaller cuts and bruises that covered his body. This was all because of her.

Tony knew what Ziva was thinking and he tried giving her the famous DiNozzo smile but it didn't seem to have any affect.

Gibbs had already called McGee and he was on his way with the local beach patrol. He saw Tony slump down in one of the chairs on the deck, completely exhausted. What the hell happened between the time the yacht left the dock and now? Gibbs then watched as Ziva faithfully took the seat next to him and laid her head on his shoulders. Ziva's eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep. Gibbs was definitely going to have a talk with DiNozzo but now was not the time or place. He needed to get these two home first.

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Ziva woke up two days later in the hospital. It literally felt as if she had been run over by a truck. She tried to shit up but found it impossible to move her left arm. She looked down at it and was completely shocked to find it in a larger plaster cast that went from her shoulder down to her fingers. She couldn't help the few tears that fell as she tried in vain to move it.

"Don't worry." A voice grumbled from the corner of the room. "Doc's said there won't be any permanent damage even though he swears that was your plan."

Ziva whirled her head around to see Tony sitting in a rather uncomfortable plastic chair. He looked exactly as he did on the boat; beside what looked like some simple stitches on his forehead. He was still wearing his tattered suit, complete with the bloody pant leg.

"You haven't gone home." Ziva said. It was a statement instead of a question.

Tony moved his chair closer to her bedside. "I couldn't just leave you here." He said, picking up her good hand and holding it in his own.

Ziva's words caught in her throat. Was this how it was going to happen? Did it really need to take both of them almost dying to admit what they felt about the other? Apparently it did.

"Tony, what is this?" Ziva asked in a whisper.

Tony gave her that famous DiNozzo smile. "I don't know yet, but honestly to me it just feels right and I'm willing to give it a try if you are." He said as he looked hopefully into her eyes.

For the first time Ziva was able to see Tony's true emotions play across his face and there was no way she could deny him.

"What about Gibbs?" She asked suddenly.

Tony shook his head. "I don't care. He doesn't need to know right away because we don't even know what we're doing yet."

Ziva simply nodded. All of her emotions were beginning to overwhelm her. Thankfully it was only Tony in the room and he had already seen her at her worst numerous times.

"So sweet-cheeks what do you say?" Tony asked with a smirk.

Ziva merely nodded again. She cursed herself for not being able to vocalize her feelings, but Tony seemed to understand. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He then kissed her cheek and then her lips. Ziva returned the kiss with such passion that Tony almost pulled away. He definitely had not been expecting that.

A sharp knock at the door caused Tony to literally jump away just as Abby stormed in. "Ziva!" She exclaimed as she wrapped her friend tightly in a hug. Everyone else, including Ducky and Palmer, followed in after Abby.

Tony took this as his cue to stand back in the corner, his eyes never left Ziva for a second. This did not go unnoticed by Gibbs and soon Tony found himself being ordered to go home and get some rest. He cast one more glance back at Ziva and she merely nodded and smiled. They would finish this later.

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**Hope you guys liked it! I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be the last.**

**R&R as always **

**~A**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, I've been on a roll so far! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**~A**

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Ziva was released from the hospital a few days later but was put on mandatory desk duty for the next few months until her arm was completely healed. She was not at all happy with this. She absolutely despised desk duty. It did, however, leave her with much more time to think about this "thing" she and Tony has started. With her and Tony being separated at work a lot it made it harder for Gibbs to notice their occasional slip-ups.

She called it a "thing" because she was afraid to classify it as a relationship because of the implications that a relationship involved. If Gibbs ever questioned them about it, it would be much easier to deny a "thing" than to deny a relationship.

"Good morning Ziva." McGee said cheerfully as he walked into the bull pen. They, meaning Tony and McGee, had gotten called in early to a body found at a marine base. Of course Ziva was not supposed to know, but it was hard not to hear Tony's phone go off when she stayed overnight,

"Good morning McGee. How was the scene, anything I could possibly do?" Ziva asked hopefully. She was utterly bored and the day had just begun.

"Nope, sorry Ziva. It was a pretty clear cut case. Tony noticed some guy hovering in the background, when he went to go question him the guy took off. Tony managed to chase him down. Turned out the guy was still wearing the bloody shirt from when he attacked the victim." McGee explained.

"Hmm and where are Gibbs and Tony?" Ziva asked as she looked back down at the report she was finishing.

"Oh yeah, Boss was taking the guy to interrogation and he ordered Tony to follow him."

Ziva's head snapped up. "What?"

"Yeah that's what I though too. Gibbs didn't seem too happy either. I wonder what Tony did this time. Although I did hear Gibbs say something about the girl Tony's been seeing," McGee said as he glanced at this computer.

Ziva felt the air leave her lungs. "Tony is seeing someone?" She asked trying to sound as un-interested as possible.

McGee laughed. "You haven't noticed? Geez, I'm usually the last to know. How can you not tell…he's been nicer."

Ziva merely nodded and got up, mumbling something about going to see Abby. This was so not good. Gibbs was going to be questioning Tony and she wasn't even there to back him up. She pushed the button for the elevator and when the doors opened Ziva's worst nightmare greeted her; Tony and Gibbs were in the elevator.

"Ah Ziver, just who I was looking for. Care to join us?" Gibbs said. Ziva could tell by his tone that he knew. Gibbs always knew.

Once the elevator started down towards Abby's lab Gibb's flipped the emergency switch. They fell into an uneasy silence. Ziva was doing everything possible to not glance in Tony's direction but it was extremely hard. She wanted to know if he had said anything yet.

Gibbs' eyes were staring at both of his agents. "Do you got anything you want to explain?"

"No." Ziva and Tony instantly said. Gibbs simply raised an eyebrow.

"We haven't done anything wrong yet." Tony started to explain.

"Yet?" Gibbs exclaimed.

"Yeah boss…I mean what exactly do you think it is that we've done?" Tony asked as he took a step towards Ziva; being close to her was making this just a little bit better.

"Let's start with the two of you being together? Have you forgotten about number 12?" Gibbs said as his voice started rising.

"Technically we haven't done anything yet." Tony tried explaining again.

"Does that mean that you two aren't planning on pursuing this," Gibbs said gesturing between them. "Any further?"

"No." Ziva interrupted before Tony could respond. Both Gibbs and Tony looked at her. "At least I don't plan on stopping; but I cannot speak for Tony and to speak openly I do not care what you think."

Gibbs couldn't help the smirk that came across his face. He hadn't expected Ziva to be the one to defend them. It showed him just how deeply she cared for Tony.

"You know what that means then David." Gibbs said holding out his hand, clearly expecting Ziva's badge and gun to be placed in it; but Tony beat her to it and placed his own badge and gun in his hand and then flipped the emergency switch again.

"Tony, what are you doing?" Ziva gasped.

Tony gave her a small smile. "Can't live without you Zi." He said as he gazed down into her eyes. It was the truth. They had spent the last seven years denying what was going on between them, he was not about to let his job stand in the way any longer. They had both completely forgotten Gibbs was in the elevator with them. When the doors opened Gibbs pushed through them and then turned to face Tony. Without saying a word he thrust the gun and badge back into Tony's hands.

"Next time you give those to me don't expect to get them back." Gibbs said gruffly and then walked back to the bull pen.

Both Tony and Ziva stared down at the items in Tony's hands. Was this Gibb's way of giving them his blessing? The elevator doors closed and they rode the elevator down two floors before finally making it back to the bull pen.

"DiNozzo, David." Gibbs called them over to this desk as soon as they got back. "Just promise me you'll keep it out of the office."

Tony smiled. "I'm going to try boss, but I mean look at…" Ziva stopped him with a head slap. "I mean promise boss."

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Later that night Ziva was once again at Tony's place. Tony had decided that they were going to have a movie marathon, complete with pizza, beer, and popcorn. Ziva cuddled as close to Tony as she could; her cast made it almost impossible.

Without warning Tony leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her lips and just like in the hospital Ziva surprised him by wrapping her good arm around his neck and kissing him fiercely. This would definitely take some getting to use to but it felt so good, it felt so right. He couldn't believe that it had taken them this long to get here but he knew that he never wanted it to end.

He pulled back slightly from the kiss and Ziva looked up at him confused. "What's wrong?"

Tony shook his head. "I think we have a problem." He said as a huge grin started to spread across his face.

Ziva started to smile as she realized he wasn't being serious. "Oh and what might that be?" She said kissing him again.

"I think I'm in love with you." Tony said as he deepened the kiss.

Ziva laughed. "Well I guess we do have a problem because I think I love you too."

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**Well that's it guys! I want to think all the readers who took the time to review. I really appreciate it. Love you guys!**

**~A**


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